I’m going to tell you with some amount of pride that a “mess o’ ribs” just doesn’t DO it for me anymore.

Not long ago — only a few months, truthfully — I was a connoisseur of all things meat.

I low carb’d it, often living on bacon-wrapped chicken and salad (with cheese and lots of dressing) as the staple of my healthy diet. I wasn’t worried about the fat. I just knew I was losing weight, and losing it fairly quickly.

Inevitably, however, the carb cravings would catch up with me…I would engorge myself with cake or candy bars, and within a week, I was up 10 pounds and feeling awful.

I initially struggled with my current lifestyle, too, mind you. I haven’t cheated, but getting “creative” with dinners hasn’t always been something I’ve had the time to do. And, to be truthful, this is a diet that requires PREPARATION. I can’t stress that enough to the four of you. Now, slap each other and say, “I love Justin Bieber and play with Barney toys!”

What were we talking about again?

Preparation, that’s right. Like preparing a blog entry that stays on topic. Yeah, like that.

So early on with Esselstyn, I would forget to pack a lunch and, not really knowing what to do, I would just pick up salad stuff and dress it with straight Balsamic Vinegar. It wasn’t the most appetizing thing I’ve done, but I put my head down and took my lumps. It taught me to be more prepared, which I’ve mentioned before…right?!

These were the most perilous days for me. It would’ve been easy to say, “Geez, I’ll just go to Zaxby’s and get a chicken salad. At least it’s ‘healthy.'” I would’ve been wrong, and I knew the damage it would do both to my body and my progress.

I say all this to say that, after four months of living this way, I have indeed lost the taste and craving for FAT, and this is a triumph for me!

I recoil at cheeseburgers with their dripping grease. I’m appalled by a slab of ribs and the pool of thick barbecue sauce and fat-congealing. I know that I would have a violent reaction to those foods if I ate them, and my body reacts accordingly. The smells don’t waft through my nose with the same allure. The sight of their pallid and muted hues hardly compares to the vibrant colors of the food I eat. They don’t hold pleasure for me. At all.

Why am I telling you all this…as if I’ve figured it all out?

I’m telling you this to encourage you in this one fact: IT. GETS. EASIER.

It gets easier to stay away from the “comfort foods” that provide no real comfort at all. It gets easier to avoid the frozen pizza bites because there’s no time and nothing else on the menu tonight. It gets easier to avoid the candy aisle, grabbing something from the produce section instead. It gets easier to avoid the convenience of a drive-thru when you don’t know what else to do. It all gets easier.

The longer you go, the easier it gets. The more you do it, the more preparation you learn.

These days, I’m thinking ahead constantly. If I’m invited to lunch, I might direct us to a more vegan-friendly establishment where I might get the food I need. If I’m meeting up with family after work, I might have dinner for myself, so that I’m not hungry and won’t dig into the goodies. If I know we’ve run out of leftovers or the pantry’s getting low, I’ll make sure to call home, check in, and stop at the store to stock up on something I can make quickly (usually rice and beans).

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a fear-based motivation. I’m not constantly afraid I’ll screw up if I don’t prepare. It’s RESOLVE. I eat a certain way for very good reason. Therefore, I will prepare my food in every situation.

I’m telling you all this because there is a point at which it will get easier and easier for you to travel the narrow road to health. One of the reasons so many doctors don’t recommend this lifestyle to their patients is because they believe it’s TOO STRICT. It certainly takes preparation, but people can learn to live in any situation. Just ask the Inuit up in Canada. Jeez.

I’m also telling you all this because I’m a nobody. I’m a nobody who is doing this everyday.

And if a flaky, procrastinating nobody like me can do it, you most assuredly can.

There is nothing requiring more patience than when you’re losing weight.

It is a slow and tedious process that can easily leave you feeling defeated, deflated and ready to quit.

I had to decide from the outset that weight wasn’t my true goal. It’s a great by-product and is a fantastic way to see my progress, but every day, and with every meal, I’m making decisions about my health. Every time I eat clean, I’m investing in my future. I’m investing in living another day.

However, here are a few things you should know as you’re losing weight. My hope is that they keep you moving forward, pressing on to better health. They’re helping me stay the course, and so I offer them here…for you four faithful readers…because I care…so shut up.

1. Don’t weigh yourself everyday!

This is one I will break often, but it’s better when I don’t do it. The fact of the matter is that, as we’re losing weight, it will fluctuate. You will put on a pound and then drop two. You might lose two and put another back on. However, if you’re tracking your weight over time, you’ll begin to see the slow decline. This is the best way to lose it.

Here’s where I’ll insert a plug for loseit.com. It’s the site I use to track my weight and progress. It’s free (unless you want to upgrade, which I haven’t), and allows you to set goals and track not only the food you eat, but keeps you apprised of an end date if you continue to lose weight at a certain rate. Great little app you can use online or on your phone.

2. What to do if you’re not losing weight

So, you’re eating right. You’re not eating oil. You’re not eating meat. Veggies up the yin yang. But you’re still not losing weight.

First thing you need to do is eat MORE. Yes, more. No, I’m not a recreational drug user, and no my mind is with me…most of the time.

When your body isn’t getting enough calories (as can happen when you move to a vegan diet), it holds on to the fat it has because it thinks you’re starving. When in starvation mode, your body will hold onto anything and everything it can get, to sustain you through what is obviously a stint on, “Survivor 138: Inner City Detroit.”

It’s counter-intuitive, but it works.

If that doesn’t work, you might be eating too much. Watch your portions, and see if that makes a difference.

Finally, watch your sugar intake. I LOVE non-dairy ice cream and sorbet, but I eat them RARELY. Dr. Esselstyn recommends not eating more than three fruits a day for the same reason. Sugar can really make the weight sneak back on if you indulge too much. Watch your sugar.

3. Give yourself TIME

You’ve heard “slow and steady wins the race.” The fact that it’s true is really only aggravating.

When you decide to eat a certain way, especially if you’ve decided to follow Dr. Esselstyn because of your coronary condition, you have to commit for the long haul. Short stints aren’t going to work. Three months and out will only get you further away from your goals.

Think in long terms. What will this be like after a year? Two years? How much repair could my arteries experience after three years of eating like this?

Once you have your mind made up, take it one meal at a time. This is a lifestyle. It’s not a quick fix. Your arteries and waistline didn’t get this way overnight. The solution won’t come overnight, either.

Did you know that people EAT turtles? That would sure change the tortoise and the hare story, wouldn’t it?

I’ve been following a plant-based whole foods lifestyle for over four months now. I have eschewed all dairy without complaint. I have kicked all meat to the curb and haven’t winced in the process. I have turned my nose up at all processed foods as if it were tripe in my nostrils.

The one thing I haven’t been able to shake, however, is diet soda.

Coke Zero to be exact. Oh, how I adore it. Cherry Coke Zero is sheer bliss. Waves of comfort waft over me as I drink it.

What were we talking about again?

Now, at this point, I know some of you will point to various videos and articles that detail the many, many ways that diet soda (and the aspartame contained within) is not good for you.

And may I say, as southerners like myself do, “You’re preachin’ to the choir!” I know it’s bad for me!

I’ve gone so far as to research the effects of caffeine on the endothelial cells of the arteries. An older article said it helped to heal the endothelial cells. A newer article said it damaged them. AARRGH!

Let me say, however, that I drink water like there’s a worldwide shortage. I usually get between 64 and 96 ounces per day. Soda? Almost the same, I’m ashamed to say…depending on the day.

I don’t know how this is hurting or impeding my progress in the fight against Coronary Artery Disease, but I do know it’s a distraction, an annoyance and something about which I can’t remain on the fence.

I guess I’m documenting my struggle with it here to say it out loud…to be accountable…to acknowledge the folly…somehow hoping it will stoke me into action.

Maybe a few choice epithets from my four faithful readers will help?

UPDATE, 6/24/2013: I think I’m two weeks (maybe more?) completely free of soda. I kind of lost count, I guess? I still struggle with it, and sometimes find myself lingering a bit too long at the soda display in the grocery checkout aisle, but I keep reminding myself that I’m moving BACKWARDS when I drink them instead of making progress. I started to notice, too, that my chest pain would increase the more I drank it, so I put a quick stop to it and it’s made a huge difference.

I don’t know about you, but the minute somebody starts talking about goals, I start looking for a door.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to dream big and have idea sessions and talk about what could be — I’m a creative type, you see — but what goal-setting inevitably means is that work is involved. LOTS of work, most of the time. And when it’s LIFE goals, I figure I should just find a window instead of a door and jump.

I’ve known the depression of failed goals. I’m sure you have, too.

In a meeting last week, Dr. Karen Naufel, a psychology professor at Georgia Southern University, gave a great talk about goals. She talked about some of the obstacles people face when setting goals, and how avoiding these roadblocks can make people more successful at achieving them.

She said there are three main obstacles to goal setting.

1. The Planning Fallacy

This obstacle points to the problem of underestimating the time, cost, effort, etc. that a certain goal will require in order to be reached. I have this problem often. I love to strategize, to make plans and to solve problems in a creative way, but when it comes to the task list required to accomplish the big dreams, I get lost.

Dr. Naufel says there are two approaches to overcoming this obstacle, because just acknowledging it won’t fix it.

The first, she says, is to “double it.” Estimate the time, cost and effort that your goal will take and then “double it.” Not the best way to handle it, she added, but it certainly gets at the old adage, “under promise, over deliver.”

The second approach is to “unpack it.” A more reasonable approach, this solution requires the goal-setter to think about every detail involved in attaining their goal. How long will it take? What specific items will have to be purchased, produced and realized to attain the larger goal?

2. Getting Stuck In A Rut

This obstacle is a tough one. Being a creative person, I’m much more wired to start a project with enthusiasm, but the longer it goes on, the less enthusiastic I become. And with nutrition goals, especially, this can be a momentum-killer.

Because of the time it takes to lose weight the right way, and because our weight can fluctuate greatly in that time, it’s easy to get off track because the results aren’t coming faster.

Dr. Naufel says one of the best ways to combat this problem is by adding a “speed bump” while the goal is still fresh.

The idea here is to take the focus away from the goal you’re working on (and the goal which you’re still excited about) by doing something else, or meeting another short-term goal on another project.

This, she says, makes you more eager to return to the goal you’re trying to reach.

I think, too, that perspective helps a lot in dealing with this goal. My goal isn’t necessarily to lose so many pounds over so long a period of time. I’m specifically hoping that by eating a certain way, my arteries will start to heal and reverse the life-threatening disease which has built up over the years. It’s not something I can just hope will change in six months, eight months or a couple of years for that matter. It’s really a lifestyle, lifetime change. If I don’t think about it that way, I would easily jump ship.

3. Side Trips Are Appealing

The final obstacle is our tendency to wander. At work, we’re distracted by Facebook and email. At school, we’re distracted by the opposite sex, cell phones and the beautiful day just outside the window.

It’s hard to stay focused, especially when cheesecake is on the table.

The best approach to overcoming this obstacle is what Dr. Naufel calls “implementation intentions.” It’s basically a way of reminding yourself to stay on track when thinking of something else.

For instance, if I come to the realization that email is really getting in the way of getting my work done, I might say to myself, “Okay, when I check email, I’m going to remind myself to get back on the task at hand. That email ding is going to remind me that I need to stay on task.”

In a restaurant, it might look like this: “Okay, when they bring that dessert tray around and I see that cheesecake, that is going to be my reminder that I need to stay on track with my nutrition and refuse it.”

Sounds simple, right? Studies show, however, that this practice works…and works well.

I know I have to do this intentionally when I go to restaurants with co-workers or friends. I generally know what kind of food they’re going to have, so I’m reminding myself — long before I arrive — that I have to find alternatives to the food I can’t eat. I may go so far as to look up the restaurant online in order to see their menu.

Preparation, people. It’s the name of the game.

I honestly hope this was helpful for you…not only in thinking about nutrition, but in thinking about life and work as well.

What are some ways that you deal with goal-setting and the obstacles it brings?

But I was probably just being pessimistic. You see, it was my birthday yesterday.

This is one of those weeks where food and weight and health and everything just feels like drudgery. I would imagine all the pollen-related crud I’ve been experiencing the last two weeks would be to blame, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?

However, in the midst of this drudgery, I discovered something that could potentially change my life (and waistline) forever!

For us strict vegans, one of the things we tend to miss the most is dairy. Instead of cheese, we usually opt for Nutritional Yeast. Instead of milk, we opt for one of several different types of vegetable milk, or none at all in my case. Instead of ice cream, we usually opt for Sorbet…which is delicious, by the way!

Whilst perusing the ice cream section, I found both a vanilla and chocolate ice cream with no dairy, no oil, no animal-derived chemicals. Nothing I couldn’t eat. JOY!

I squealed a little as I put it in my cart.

I have to say, though, the taste is even better. Because they’re made with coconut milk, they have just a slight coconut aftertaste that is SO good. I found some whole grain flax and bran flakes I was going to snack on, and ended up crumpling some of them over it.